Energy absorbing structure for vehicle body side portion
Patent 5072966 Issued on December 17, 1991. Estimated Expiration Date: 
March 8, 2011. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.
March 8, 2011. Estimated Expiration Date is calculated based on simple USPTO term provisions. It does not account for terminal disclaimers, term adjustments, failure to pay maintenance fees, or other factors which might affect the term of a patent.Patent References 41262931 3753475 3767002 3791667 3884497 Inflatable structures for side impact crash protection Patent #: 4966388 InventorsAssigneeApplicationNo. 666870 filed on 03/08/1991US Classes:280/730.2, Mounted in vehicle and positioned laterally of occupant180/274, Responsive to engagement of portion of perimeter of vehicle with external object280/734Responsive to vehicle conditionExaminersPrimary: Rice, Kenneth R.Assistant: Dickson, Paul N. Attorney, Agent or FirmForeign Patent References
International ClassB60R 021/16Foreign Application Priority Data1990-03-13 JPAbstractAn energy absorbing structure for a vehicle body side portion, includes a pair of vehicle body members constituting two side portions of a vehicle body, a pair of collision detection sensors for respectively detecting collisions on two side surfaces of the vehicle body, one air bag which is mounted in each vehicle body member, can be unfolded toward the interior of a passenger room, and can receive at least one passenger who is moved sideways by a side collision in an unfolded state, a timing varying unit for changing unfolding timings of the two air bags in accordance with a side-collision direction on the basis of detection results from the collision detection sensors, and an air bag unfolding device for unfolding the air bags in accordance with the unfolding timings set by the timing varying unit. | |
